The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Bono (story)
Nicholas Klein (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 February 2000 (Germany)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Tragi-comic, romantic whodunnit set in a run down hotel which plays host to mentally ill people too poor to afford medical insurance.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Sequel | Misfit | Murder | Painting

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Jeremy Davies	...	Tom Tom
Milla Jovovich	...	Eloise
Mel Gibson	...	Detective Skinner
Jimmy Smits	...	Geronimo
Peter Stormare	...	Dixie
Amanda Plummer	...	Vivien
Gloria Stuart	...	Jessica
Tom Bower	...	Hector
Donal Logue	...	Charley Best
Bud Cort	...	Shorty
Julian Sands	...	Terence Scopey
Conrad Roberts	...	Stix
Harris Yulin	...	Stanley Goldkiss
Charlayne Woodard	...	Jean Swift
Ellen Cleghorne	...	Marlene

Also Known As:

The Billion Dollar Hotel (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

Germany | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:PG (cut) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Malaysia:18PL (uncut) | Malaysia:U (cut) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Icon Entertainment International

Trivia:

'Tim Roth' was the original choice for Tom Tom, but couldn't commit due to scheduling conflicts. He plays the much smaller role of Izzy instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: The positions of the pool balls change during the voting scene.

Quotes:

Detective Skinner: You'll do, take me to his room
Tom Tom: who... who... who...?
Detective Skinner: What are you an owl? The dead guy, Israel Goldstein
Tom Tom: Izzy
Detective Skinner: Is he what?
Tom Tom: Izzy was he
Detective Skinner: Right, Izzy, let's go
Tom Tom: [pointing upwards] Geronimo
Detective Skinner: Geronimo, Hi-Ho, let's go
Tom Tom: [smirks] Hi-Ho
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in U2: The Best of 1990-2000 (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Falling at Your Feet

Four Stories In One - Three Out Of Four Work

It is a love story, social commentary, crime drama and personal narrative all wrapped up in one film. It all works but the personal narrative which almost works.

The movie begins with the narrator jumping off the building. It sets the bar high for making sure the film provides enough motivation to support that act. It sets a high bar for the viewer to care when he leaps. It fails on both counts. The leap bookends the rest of the action. Bookends are functional but not necessary to keep books together. This leap is not necessary to keep the film together. It functions to allow you entry into and exit out of the story. In this it is very effective making its lack of motivation forgivable.

This is about life on the edges. Most characters are on the edges of society, high and low. Most characters are at the edges of sanity. Some approach the edge, from both directions. It takes the Network envisioned world showing how that world impacts people at the edges. One character's desire to keep an event from getting to TV in an unfavorable light drives Detective Skinner's involvement. The involvement of TV is courted by another group of characters to enhance their economic status. All the time TV is pushing to get a taste of the scandal in order to profit itself.

The love story is inescapably intertwined with the crime story. Detective Skinner plays cupid to discover the truth. What begins as an uncomfortable failure to reject by Eloise turns into a warm and caring relationship. The pain it causes Tom's love interest provides the only compelling reason, aside from general principle, for caring about the narrator leaping.

Social commentary is on several levels. On top are "we need better health care" and "marginalization of the mentally ill". Underneath is the issue of power. The media mogul, the detective, Eloise, and the collective residents all make use of power to influence outcomes. Political influence, personal attraction, the lure of a better life, physical and verbal abuse are all in play. A small irony is that the `powerful' media mogul is probably less effective in exercising power than the `marginal' residents of the hotel.

The crime story works well. That a crime was committed is up for grabs as much as who did it. A dark joke is that someone from the LAPD is assigned to the FBI agent to make sure he follows procedures. The LAPD liaison is totally ineffective and the only truly powerless character in the entire movie.

This movie is a visual treat. Editing is unusual and effective. It is smooth when that works and it is jumpy and ragged when that works. From the opening shot to the end each scene is an eyeful.